News
Phelps breaks 200m butterfly record at Worlds
By: canada.comPosted On: 07/29/2009 4:10 P
One day after being dealt a race loss in a major individual race, Michael Phelps recorded one of five world records set Wednesday at the World Swim Championships.
Swimming in the men's 200-meter butterfly final, Phelps recorded a time of one minute, 51.51 seconds to win the event. He bettered his own previous mark of 1:52.03, which he set last summer at the Beijing Olympics.
Phelps' swim comes a day after he lost to Germany's Paul Biedermann in the final of the men's 200-meter freestyle. Biedermann set a world record in the event, beating the time Phelps set in Beijing. It was Phelps' first loss in a major individual race since losing to Ian Crocker in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2005 Worlds.
But Wednesday, Phelps crushed the field on the way to the record and the win, as second-placed Pawel Korzeniowski of Poland finished with a time of 1:53.23.
Also on Wednesday, China's Zhang Lin shattered the world record in the final of the men's 800-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 7:32.12. He took more than six seconds off the previous record of 7:38.65, set by Australian Grant Hackett in 2005.
In the women's 200-meter freestyle final, Federica Pellegrini of Italy beat her own world record that she set in Tuesday's semifinals of the event. On Tuesday, Pellegrini swam a 1:53.67, then followed it up with a 1:52.98 on Wednesday. Americans Allison Schmitt and Dana Vollmer were second and third, respectively, behind Pellegrini.
Likewise, South African Cameron van der Burgh bettered his own world record in the men's 50-meter breaststroke final. In Tuesday's semifinals, he finished the event in 26.74 to set a world record, then broke it Wednesday with a time of 26.67.
In the semifinals of the women's 50-meter backstroke, Russian Anastasia Zueva claimed a world record with a time of 27.38 seconds. Zueva, who lost a world record Tuesday in the 100-meter backstroke final, broke the record of 27.61 set by German Daniela Samulski a month ago in Berlin.
Zueva barely beat Samulski on Wednesday, as Samulski recorded a time of 27.39 seconds. Five swimmers Wednesday had a time under Samulski's old mark.
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